Bad boy: How long should silent treatment games last?

Carol has not spoken a word to you in the last 72 hours. Reason: You said something good about your baby mama.

“The way you used to trash her! What changed?” is the last thing she said before shutting up for good.

You tried touching her on the second night after the altercation and she violently threw your hand away, with a surprising fierce force. You tried apologising, but like all women, Carol is neither good in giving apologies nor receiving any. She brushed you aside and has treated you like a dirty rag in a corner.

When it comes to silent treatment, there is no equality between the sexes. You can’t be silent to your woman as she will label you petty. But when they want to be silent, they can punish you a good one. You have tried to chat her up, but she has been showing you the hand, “I’m not interested. Go to her.”

“You took it the wrong way, obviously, she is not as bad as I used to portray her…”

She banged the door in an act of extreme rudeness. You are left there seething in anger. There is something palpably irritating when the missus is in a foul mood, totally unafraid of the consequences of her actions or utterances. Maybe it is because women know they can erase any problem with tears. And on such, you really don’t know who to talk to.

George, your friend, thinks you should return the favour.

“Escalate it. Don’t tolerate it. Go mum for like a month and see who will blink fast.”

“That is not what adults do. Try and be persuasive. Maybe buy some flowers or a gift,” urges Tom, trying to be reasonable.

“You can’t reason with these people,” you say.

“Simply tell her that you want to go and stay with the baby mama because she listens to you and you’re not given to extreme moods like her…” says George cynically.

George’s suggestions sound like a plan. Later, you tried them on Carol.

“I don’t like your attitude. I’m going away for a few days,” You are tempted to blackmail her that you are going to the baby mama, but you decide to be less petty and say nothing more. And at the fear of it becoming an empty threat, you make an abrupt trip to the village. And when you have been in the village for more than 24 hours, still no call, no text.

If she thinks she is hurting you, she is right. You used to think these kinds of games were left to college kids, but you were ignorant and wrong. Both George and Tom say it is fairly common. George says he always ignores his wife until she comes around. Tom says he always tries to mend the situation as soon as possible.

“The Bible says you should not let the sun set before you solve your differences. The longer it goes, the deeper it festers. We have cultivated an environment where…”

You cut him short when he starts to sound like a popular female TV host. You can only fight fire with fire. So, you will return the favour and shut up until the end of the month…

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